Bulletin:NATO Special Forces Battle Taliban Near Kunduz,Afghanistan

An undisclosed number of NATO troops were sent to Kunduz to support Afghanistan in a non-combat role.That said,they also maintain the right to defend themselves.Early Wednesday morning,coalition special forces advisors,while advising and assisting elements of the Afghan security forces,encountered an insurgent threat in the vicinity of Kunduz airport at approximately 1:00 am,30 September,according to Colonel Brian Tribus,US Army,spokesman for US and NATO forces in Afghanistan.This was done out of self-defence.When they encountered the threat,they defended themselves.The NATO troops also called in a third airstrike on the Taliban,COL Tribus said.*
An anonymous senior Afghan security official said that about 100 US special forces,heavily armed and wearing night vision equipment,had fought off the Taliban when they threatened to breach the airport,where a large number of Afghan National Defence and Security Forces are holding out.The US troops returned to the airport following the engagement.*
A Western military source,also anonymous,said the NATO contingent sent to advise and assist the ANDSF in Kunduz included US,British and German troops,although the German government said their forces withdrew the same day they arrived.